Community leaders, some six years ago, saw a need to integrate mental health services into certain Springfield neighborhoods to help improve the social and mental health of children and families.

Now, after providing over 10,000 mental health screenings and intervention for more than 800 children, partners involved with the Children’s MOSAIC Project are preparing to expand the program to serve more children. They also are working to ensure it is sustainable because the main funding grant is set to expire.

“This particular grant doesn’t have a renewable option,” says Cindy Knight, supervisor of student support services for Springfield District 186. “It only continues for another year.”

The Mental Health Centers of Central Illinois, the lead agency representing the Children’s MOSAIC Project, received a $2 million grant in August 2011 from the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation. The grant started an initiative to change the mental health system in Springfield, ensuring all children have access to mental health services.

Because of the program’s success, MOSAIC partners plan to expand and provide support to more children.

“We are scaling up in the larger schools,” Knight says. “We plan to add two new schools next year. Long term, we are trying to figure out how we can do this without the grant funding.”

The program currently serves Matheny Withrow Elementary School, Lawrence Head Start, St. Patrick Elementary, Washington Middle School and Southeast High School.

Melissa Stalets, director of the Children’s MOSAIC Project, believes the program is sustainable without the grant funding.

“The funding has allowed us to work with partners across Springfield to build a sustainable program,” she says. “Through our partners, we believe we will be able to keep this program going.”

However, according to Knight, MOSAIC partners currently are looking for new opportunities to apply for grants.

NYC initiative similar

When community leaders initially came together to discuss ways to improve mental health services for children in District 186, they looked at a New York City program as a model for what the Children’s MOSAIC Project could look like.

“(They) wanted to create something similar to the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City,” Knight says. Program leaders there tackle poverty and work to improve job and educational opportunities for children in central Harlem.

“We were invited into conversations with MHCCI to help design what that would look like in Springfield,” Knight says. “Nothing happens in a vacuum, so we also asked other potential stakeholders to get involved and lend their input and expertise.”

Other partners include: The Springfield Project, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, city of Springfield, Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln, United Way of Central Illinois, the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, Sangamon County Continuum of Learning, Springfield Urban League, Sangamon County Public Health Department, the Hope Institute for Children and Families and Memorial Physician Services.

Page 2 of 2 - Every student subject to screening

The MOSAIC Project targets children in three specific settings, including in “high-risk neighborhoods where children live, schools where children learn and primary health-care settings,” according to a MOSAIC release.

“In order to identify kids early, we wanted to be proactive,” Stalets says. “We wanted to reach them before they showed up on our doorsteps.”

To accomplish this, Knight says all students in participating schools are screened for their social and emotional health, unless parents opt not to have their children screened.

MOSAIC provides a universal screening, an assessment, intervention and care coordination when needed.

“We do this around academic skills,” Knight says. “We check in with them throughout the year to see how they’re doing with their grades and if they are keeping up with their classes. We can then assess their development and determine if they are mentally on track. If they need additional support, we’ll work with our partners to make sure they get the help they need.”

While engagement in the program varies by student and parent, most students choose to get involved within a couple of weeks of their screening.

“We’ve been able to get most students engaged within two weeks,” Stalets says. “In traditional outpatient programs, it can take years to get students engaged in the process.”

Goal: serve entire district

MOSAIC leaders believe children in the program are engaged in therapy longer and for more sessions, have lower rates of no-show appointments and fewer crisis events than those in traditional outpatient mental health services.

“We hope all children can have social and emotional checkups done annually. And we want to be able to provide support to all 27,000 students in the district,” she says. “Children and families have a lot of needs in Springfield, and we want to be there to help.”